In the overcrowded conference room at the Cape Cod Commission’s office Aug. 3, what had the feel of a high-stakes poker game took place. What the “pot” players in the solid waste management field were vying for is the long-term contract for the right to handle Cape Cod’s waste materials once the current contract with SEMASS, the region’s resource recovery system located in Rochester, ends.

The urgency and serious nature of the meeting was felt by the representatives of the Cape’s towns because once the current contract ends, the cost of removing waste from the peninsula could quadruple, which will surely put the pinch on already strangled budgets. In the town of Barnstable, for instance, because of grants and subsides over the last 20 years the annual cost of using SEMASS is roughly $168,000 per year. Starting Jan. 1, 2015, that price could rise to nearly $800,000.

At this week’s meeting, representatives Jim Nocella and Chris Lucarelle of the national firm of Waste Management; Ben Harvey and Brian Alexson of E.L. Harvey, a family-run firm based out of Westboro; and Dan Wahle of MassCoastal Rail, the local company currently operating the “Energy Train” that hauls some area towns’ trash on its final ride to the incinerator, all presented their case of why they should be the company chosen for a contract that would extend through the year 2035. Others in the running are SEMASS and also the Town of Bourne, which operates the Cape’s last landfill.

Acting as the facilitator of the conference was attorney John Giorgio of Boston’s Kopelman and Paige. Giorgio’s experience includes negotiating for more than 20 central Massachusetts towns for long-term solid waste removal contracts.

With earnings of $12.5 billion a year, Waste Management’s representatives said, the nationwide company has the ability to take on the Cape’s solid waste and recyclable material needs easily for many years to come.

WM’s representative Jim Nocella quickly tried to allay the fears of towns having to deal with a large company. “We are national, but are organized regionally, with an office in Foxboro that serves all of New England,” he said. “Because of our size we have a couple of things to offer such as a large array of disposal facilities located throughout the northeast.”

Nocella made it clear that the only real way to defray the cost would be a wide-range effort to reduce the amount of solid waste, which can be done by recycling, glass, paper and plastics, and the composting of organic waste. “Our main drive is to reduce the amount of solid waste by using initiatives in the areas of recycling and composting, and other technologies that because of our size we are able to do better than most other companies,” said Nocella.

Nocella also reiterated that his company is no stranger to the problems and complexities presented on Cape Cod.

“The Cape is somewhat fragmented in some areas, and somewhat together in others,” he said. “What role each community will play is still yet to be determined. Some communities might just let private business handle their solutions. The main point I want to make is that we are already here, and that we have experience toiling in this area.”

Giorgio recalled previous contacts with Waste Management.

“We got right down to the very end of negotiations, and we were then told that you would have to go back to Houston to get the final answers worked out,” he said. “When you came back you told us that a 20-year contract was not possible, but a 10-year contract was what your company was interested in. That was a big disappointment. What kind of proof do we have that won’t happen again?”

Nocella said that the regional office had the power this time to handle the contracting process without having to go back to the corporate offices in Houston.

In order to put a proposal together, Nocella said, the company needs to know what all the towns as a whole want. After that, he said, “the economic piece will work itself out.”

The comment frustrated solid waste contract advisory committee members, who wanted to go back to their towns with a more solid grasp of the solution to the problem.

Nocella said he felt the open forum of the meeting that day was not the proper place to divulge any real details of pricing. “I don’t think this is typically the time or the place with competitors sitting around the table to get into the details,” he said. “In the negotiation process, we can hammer out the details.”

When it was E.L. Harvey’s turn to make its pitch, representatives said the small family-owned business was better suited to serve the needs of the Cape communities.

“We have been a family-run business for over 100 years, and I think we have a more nimble approach when it comes to handling the problems,” said Ben Harvey. “We don’t have to go back to a corporate headquarters to get answers.”

Harvey clearly admitted that his company couldn’t compete with the financial resources that WM had, but denied that would stop them from handling the job.

E.L. Harvey has partnered with other waste and recycling facilities to handle the disposal of materials, he said.

Wouldn’t that just add a “middle man” to the equation, a committee member asked.

“You are not creating a middle man, you are creating another partner that will help out on your behalf to get the best economic price for your needs,” said Alexson, Harvey’s recycling expert, adding that “we don’t have allegiance to any facility.”

Alexson said Harvey has invested $20 million in a recycling facility to handle all types of single stream waste.

“We are in the business to solicit customers, get their waste and handle it,” said Alexson. “We don’t care how much tonnage you give us; we will handle it.”

The third company, MassCoastal Railroad, operates the “energy train” that takes solid waste from the Yarmouth and Upper Cape rail transfer stations to SEMASS. The company’s representative, Dan Wahle, said his rail line is looking into newer technology, including gondola cars and container cars, to haul trash.

The previous speakers had said the Cape’s rail line was a transportation advantage they intended to use, suggesting that Outer Cape towns now bypassing the station with trucks might be encouraged to use the Yarmouth facility.

“We burn far less fuel than our competitors,” said Wahle, who noted that the Cape rail transfer stations are the only ones in Massachusetts. He, too, said the company wanted to work with the successful bidder.

In an email after the meeting, Cape Cod Commission Deputy Director Patty Daley said members formed a working group of six, including a representative from the “truck-hauling” communities (Dennis to Provincetown), one from the Yarmouth and Barnstable transfer station towns, one from one of the Upper Cape transfer station towns, one from the off-Cape communities (a representative attended this week’s meeting), Giorgio, and herself.

The small group will meet individually with WM, Harvey and SEMASS, she said, adding that “Bourne and Cape Rail are still on the table.”